The Celtic cross is a form of Christian cross featuring a nimbus or ring that emerged in Ireland, France and Great Britain in the Early Middle Ages. A type of ringed cross, it became widespread through its use in the stone high crosses erected across the islands, especially in regions evangelized by Irish missionaries, from the ninth through the 12th centuries.
Early crosses at Clonmacnoise, Ireland
Kingswood war memorial in Surrey, England
A high cross at Monasterboice in Ireland
Early forms: pillar stone, Gallarus Oratory, County Kerry, Ireland
A high cross or standing cross is a free-standing Christian cross made of stone and often richly decorated. There was a unique Early Medieval tradition in Ireland and Britain of raising large sculpted stone crosses, usually outdoors. These probably developed from earlier traditions using wood, perhaps with metalwork attachments, and earlier pagan Celtic memorial stones; the Pictish stones of Scotland may also have influenced the form. The earliest surviving examples seem to come from the territory of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Northumbria, which had been converted to Christianity by Irish missionaries; it remains unclear whether the form first developed in Ireland or Britain.
Muiredach's High Cross, Monasterboice, 9th or 10th century
A simpler example, Culdaff, County Donegal, Ireland
Three views of the Northumbrian Easby Cross of 800–820
King Doniert's Stone in East Cornwall, Ninth century